YO ADRIAN

The Red Sox swapped Adrians in 2011. They no longer haved Beltre, but they do have Gonzalez. The blockbuster deal cost Boston prospects like Casey Kelly, Rey Fuentes and Anthony Rizzo, but most experts feel that Adrian Gonzalez will shine in Boston, after establishing himself as a superstar with the Padres. Gonzalez is coming off shoulder surgery and by all accounts will be ready for opening day. While all of his Major League teammates had Wednesday off, Gonzalez played for the PawSox. Kind of. He had six at bats, hitting each time the PawSox came up in the first six innings. He managed three hits and an rbi in the exhibition against Durham.

Gonzalez spoke about the progress he’s seeing in Fort Myers, after his outing. ” For me, it’s all about getting my timing down. The first couple of days, I was just looking for fastballs, the last couple, I’ve been trying to get hits. It hasn’t worked out too well, so it was good to get out there and have some at bats and mix it up.” Gonzalez said it didn’t matter that he got some hits today. He’s looking to the future. “It’s really about seeing a strike and taking a good swing at a strike. The timing hasn’t been right. Today I felt a lot better out there.” Gonzalez also spoke about not over-swinging and consistency. “I’m never going to try to ‘unload’ on one during a game. My swing is going to be my swing. I look for pitches and if I get them, home runs come naturally. When you do overswing, the only thing that happens is that you swing through it and roll over. That’s not something I worry about.”

Gonzalez has already made it known that he’d like to play in all 162 games for Boston this year and Terry Francona is willing to go along with that. Gonzalez says he is ready to go all out, all the time. “I’m getting Thursday and Sunday off, but I’m scheduled to play in the rest of the games. I’ve gone into the seventh inning a few times already, so I’ll be ready.”

Gonzalez had batted in a lineup in San Diego that featured him. In Boston, he’s just one of a lineup that features talent from top to bottom and that excites him. “The transition’s been great. The guys have been great. My teammates are unbelievable. Everybody around here’s been awesome.” Gonzalez continued. “The potential is unbelievable. We have a very strong 1 through 9 and the guys that are going to be platooning, would be starters on most teams. It’s great to be in a lineup like that, because you some days you’re going to get to hit 6 times.”